Carton construction



C Oct. 24, 1967 R J N ET AL 3,348,757

CARTON CONSTRUCTION Filed May 16, 1966 u H n I PM Jiiiiiili 525 z z Z WENIOR.

United States Patent 3,348,757 CARTON CONSTRUCTION Robert J. Hickin, Seville, Ohio, and Jerome J. Galbierz, St. Louis, Mo., assignors to Packaging Corporation of America, Evanston, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 16, 1966, Ser. No. 550,217 4 Claims. (Cl. 22937) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A carton or receptacle for ackaging granulated products, in which the sides and bottom of the carton or receptacle are formed from a blank of foldable fibrous material and the top is formed of a blank of metallic material provided with means for permitting discharge of the granulated product when desired. The carton or receptacle is capable of assuming a collapsed condition until it is to be set up for loading.

Background of the invention Heretofore, it has been customary for receptacles used for such purposes to be either formed of metallic material throughout or formed of a metallic tOp and a bottom secured to opposite ends of a fibrous tubular intermediate member. In either instance the receptacle design is such as to require partial setup of each rece tacle by the fabricator priorto a plurality of said receptacles being shipped to the customer for filling and labeling. Because of the shipping costs involved in transporting the partially setup receptacles from the fabricator to the customer it has been an economic necessity for the fabricator to be located in the vicinity of the customers packing plant. Furthermore, storage of such partially setup, unfilled receptacles creates a problem either for the fabricator or customer. Lastly, the material .cost of such a receptacle particularly where metallic material is utilized throughout, oftentimes results in the cost of the receptacle itself constituting a disproportionate share of the total cost of packaged products.

The design of receptacles of this type must of necessity be sift-proof, moisture-proof and infestationroof and also be possessed of sufficient strength and stability to withstand substantial stacking loads. In addition, the re ceptacles must be capable of withstanding abusive handling without adversely effecting its contents.

Summary of invention Thus, it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a receptacle which is not beset with the shortcomings of the prior structures and yet meets all of the requirements for packaging of products of the type indicated.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a receptacle which is inexpensive to produce, sturdy in construction, and pleasing in appearance.

Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawing, and appended claims.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention a receptacle is provided which includes a tubular body section closed at one end, and a closure element sealingly affixed to the opposite or second end of the body section. The body section is formed from -a sheet of foldable fibrous material provided with a lurality of slits and foldlines. Included among said foldlines are a plurality of spaced substantially parallel first foldlines which cooperate with one another to form side walls and a glue flap. A plurality of second foldlines are disposed adjacent the second end or the body section and in juxtaposed,

substantially parallel relation with respect to the first foldlines and cooperating with the latter whereby the configuration of the body section second end includes substantially rounded corners. A third foldline is also included which is disposed transversely with respect to the first foldlines and slits to form a plurality of end closure flaps which are folded into overlapping sealing relation. The glue flap and the portion of a side wall to which it is secured to form the tubular body section, have at least the segments thereof adjacent the second end of reduced thickness whereby the combined thicknesses of said segments are substantially equal to the thickness of any other portion of the body section delimiting the second end.

For a more complete understandin-g'of this invention reference should be made to the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank of the body section;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a filled and sealed receptacle;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the portions of the secured glue flap and side wall disposed adjacent the top of the receptacle.

Description Referring now to the drawing, an improved receptacle 10 is shown which includes a body section 11 preferably formed of foldable fibrous sheet material, and a top closure element 12, preferably in the form of a light weight metallic stamping. The body section material is preferably treated so as to render same sift-proof and moisture-proof. Obviously the body section must not cause any deleterious efiect on the packaged product and in addition must be possessed of sufiicient stiffness as to resist collapse when filled receptacles are arranged in stacked relation or to withstand normal, even abusive handling.

The blank 13 for body section 11 is shown in FIG. 1 and includes a plurality of spaced, substantially parallel, elongated foldlines 14. Foldlines 14 cooperate with one another to form side walls 15, 16, 17 and 18 and a glue flap 20. A plurality of second foldlines 21 are disposed adjacent the upper edge of the blank and in close proximity to the upper end portion of each foldline 14. Foldlines 14 and 21 are in substantially arallel relation and when the blank is set up to form body section 11, the upper open end of the body section has a polygonal configuration with rounded corners 22. The advantage of the rounded corners will become apparent hereinafter.

A third foldline 23 is formed in blank 13 which is adapted to cooperate with a plurality of slits 24 so as to form end closure flaps 25, 26, 27, 28 and 30. When the blank is set up these flaps are disposed in an overlapping adhesively connected relation so as to form a sealed bottom end.

The body section 11 may be shipped by the fabricator to the customer in either the form of the blank 13 or as a collapsed tubular member, not shown. Setting up of the blank by the customer (packer) may be readily accomplished by conventional apparatus utilized for this purpose. In either case, a large number of blanks or collapsed tubular members may be readily and economically transported or stored without occupying a large area.

End flap 28, in the illustrated embodiment, is provided with a pair of well-known Van Buren type ears 28a, which cooperate with the side walls to provide a more effective end closure. If desired, however, the Van Buren ears may be omitted.

Side wall 15 and glue flap 20, in the illustrated embodiment are ada ted to partially overlap one another, see FIG. 2, so as to form a wall comparable in shape to side wall 17. The overlapping outer edge portion 15a of side wall 15, and the overlapped outer edge portion 3 20a of glue flap 20 are of reduced thickness so that the combined thicknesses thereof are substantially equally to the thickness of the blank material, see FIG. 3. The reduced thickness or stepped configuration of portions 15a and 20a may be accomplished by skiving at the time the blank is being formed.

The body section blank 13 is preferably formed of an inexpensive relatively still paperboard which has been suitably treated to render same moistureproof, In order to render the body section sift-proof and infestation-proof,

a caulking compound or non-hardening substance 31 may be applied to the joints formed by the Van Buren type ears 28a and the overlapping outer edge portion 15a of side wall 15 in accordance with the teachings of US. Patent No, 3,007,376.

Top closure 12 is formed of suitable sheet vmetal material and has a rolled edge which is adapted to be crimped to the upper edge of the body section which delimits the open end thereof. The crimping operation is well known and is normally done by the packer, subsequent to filling of the receptacle. Because of the reduced thicknesses of portions 15a and 20a, the crimping of the top closure 12 to the body section 11 is facilitated and thus, an effective seal is created. A capped discharge port 32. may be formed in top closure 12, seev FIG. 2, to facilitate discharge of the product accommodated within the receptacle.

The size and shape of the receptacle may be varied from that shown in the drawing without departing from the scope of this invention.

Thus, it will be seen that an inexpensive, sturdy, efiective and attractive receptacle has been provided which overcomes the numerous shortcomings, aforenoted, associated with the prior structures.

While a single embodiment of this invention has been described above, further modifications may be -made thereto and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. A receptacle suitable for packaging granulated ma terial or the like comprising an integral body section formed from a sheet of foldable fibrous material forming upright side panels with closure flaps at the bottom of said panels; said body material having a plurality of spaced parallel first fold lines extending from the top to the bottom of said side panels and defining the same, second fold lines extending generally downwardly from the top of said panels in closely spaced relation to the upper portions of said first fold lines to ermit rounded corners to be produced at the upper end of said body, and a third fold line disposed at the bottom of said side panels normal to said first fold lines, said third fold line cooperating with a plurality of slits arranged to form extensions of said first fold lines when the closure flaps are disposed in the planes of the side wall panels respectively contiguous therewith, to define the closure flaps at the bottom of said body; and a rigid end closure having rounded corners and sealingly connected to the top of said body when the flaps have been folded into closure position in the bottom of the receptacle; said. second fold lines permitting the corner portions of the topof said body sheet to conform to the radius of curvature at the corners of said rigid closure.

2. The receptacle of claim 1 whereby one of said bottom closure flaps includes Van Buren type cars which overlap opposed upright side panels.

3. The receptacle of claim 1 whereby said rigid end closure has the periphery thereof in crimped relation with the portions of said body section delimiting said upper end.

4. The receptacle of claim 1 whereby the body section and the rigid end closure remain separated from one another and said body section assumes a collapsed tubular configuration prior to said receptacle being set up for,

filling and sealing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,523,488 9/1950 Williamson 22937.417 2,658,663 11/1953 Reese 229-5.6 X 3,007,376 11/1961 Hickin et al. 229-37 X 3,288,353 11/1966 McCullough 229-3.5 X

DAVID M.:BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner. 

1. A RECEPTACLE SUITABLE FOR PACKAGING GRANULATED MATERIAL OR THE LIKE COMPRISING AN INTEGRAL BODY SECTION FORMED FROM A SHEET OF FOLDABLE FIBROUS MATERIAL FORMING UPRIGHT SIDE PANELS WITH CLOSURE FLAPS AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID PANELS; SAID BODY MATERIAL HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED PARALLEL FIRST FOLD LINES EXTENDING FROM THE TOP TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID SIDE PANELS AND DEFINIGN THE SAME, SECOND FOLD LINES EXTENDING GENERALLY DOWNWARDLY FROM THE TOP OF SAID PANELS IN CLOSELY SPACED RELATION TO THE UPPER PORTIONS OF SAID FIRST FOLD LINS TO PERMIT ROUNDED CORNERS TO BE PRODUCED AT THE UPPER END OF SAID BODY, AND A THIRD FOLD LINE DISPOSED AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID SIDE PANELS NORMAL TO SAID FIRST FOLD LINES, SAID THIRD FOLD LINE COOPERATING WITH A PLURALITY OF SLITS ARRANGED TO FORM EXTENSIONS OF SAID FIRST FOLD LINES WHEN THE CLOSURE FLAPS ARE DISPOSED IN THE PLANES OF THE SIDE WALL PANELS RESPECTIVELY CONTIGUOUS THEREWITH, TO DEFINE THE CLOSURE FLAPS AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID BODY; AND A RIGID END CLOSURE HAVING ROUNED CORNERS AND SEALINGLY CONNECTED TO THE TOP OF 